The report, which is prepared by National Union of Students, surveyed 2,800 students and found cannabis to be the most widely used drug.
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In a shocking revelation of the scope of drug epidemic in educational campuses, a report claims that out of every five students, two are drug users. It further highlights that at the time that the study was carried out, 39% students said that they were using drugs.
The report, which took the opinion of around 2,800 students from different campuses across the country, is prepared by National Union of Students. It was founded in 1992 and is a confederation of around 600 student unions in the UK.
In addition to NUS, Release, a charity which is known for its work on drugs and drugs law, also corroborated in the preparation of the report.
Our #StudentsAndDrugs report in partnership with @Release_drugs ‘Taking the Hit: Student drug use and how institutions respond’ includes exploration of 2,810 students’ who responded with their experiences and attitudes towards drugs. Read the full report: https://t.co/48jgdf9gEe
— NUS Trans Students Campaigners Network (@nus_trans) April 26, 2018
According to the report, while drug use is a common behavior among students, it is infrequent. For, at the time of the study, while 56% students claimed that they had used drugs at some time in their life, 39% claimed of using drugs at that time.
As for the drugs which are most common among students, the NUS report finds cannabis to be used the most, followed by the likes of ecstasy, nitrous oxide, and cocaine.
It shuts down the myth the students only use drugs for recreational purposes, with a small number of students claiming that they use ‘’study drugs’’, those which allow them to concentrate better during the exam season.
Stress and Mental Health
Even before this report came out, a large number of charities had warned authorities that mental health problems are affecting the well-being of students.
This report describes drug use in the same vein, with almost a third of students who use drug citing the reduction of stress as the reason, though another third claimed that their mental health deteriorated after using drugs.
Respondents to our research with @Release_drugs showed students have an accepting attitude toward drugs, 62% having no problem with students taking drugs for recreational purposes. #StudentsAndDrugs
— NUS Trans Students Campaigners Network (@nus_trans) April 26, 2018
Apart from highlighting the problem, the report also suggests the cure: universities providing advice to their students regarding drug use.
It states that in 2017, more than 2,000 incidents were reported by universities of their students’ having possession of drugs. Out of these, only a quarter were reported to the police.
However, the report states that ‘’these punitive measures rarely help’’, with the advice that universities should focus more on drug education and health advice.
